METAL HISTORY / TRIBUTE: Oki Devo & Man Jasad talk about Agung (1977-2000)

Left to right : roy agus (drum) wearing sonic torment shirt, wawan (guitar) wearing rotten corpse longsleeve, camel (bass) wearing eternal madness shirt, willman (guitars) wearing death vomit logo, agung (vocals) wearing deicide shirt.

Interview with Oki (DEATH VOMIT), burger shop, Yogya, 13 October 2011

By Dr Kieran James

Oki, Kieran, Corna @ Yogya, 13 October 2011

Extra comments by: Mr Corna Irawan (Death Vomit band manager).

Introduction: Agung was the former vocalist of Yogyakarta brutal death-metal band DEATH VOMIT. Agung sadly died, like the Sex Pistols’ Sid Vicious, of drugs at age 22. On this page I give my interviews with two of Agung’s best mates, Oki of DEATH VOMIT and Man of JASAD. As Oki says, Agung was a real death-metal guy who lived the death-metal life. He brought together the punk, metal, and reggae scenes in Yogya. We hope that there will be a statue of Agung in Yogya one day just as there is now a statue of Bon Scott of AC/DC at the Fremantle waterfront at Perth, Australia. If Agung had known DEATH VOMIT would do an Australian tour he surely would have been very proud.

Kieran James: Oki, can you please tell me, mate, what do you remember about Agung?

Oki Haribowo (bassist DEATH VOMIT): Agung had a good attitude and a bad attitude like some [other] metal people. He was a good vocalist, a good friend of mine, it is sad for me he had to die yeah.

KJ: Do you ever think of him when the band plays?

Oki: No, but sometimes when I’m alone in my room and see his picture sometimes I miss him. Almost every day he listened to his own band Death Vomit. He was a big fan of the vocalist of Dismember [Sweden] [Matti Kärki].

KJ: Was his voice different to Sofyan’s voice?

Oki: His voice was different from Sofyan’s, maybe [Agung’s voice was] like the first Suffocation [album] Effigy of the Forgotten. He always told his experiences of life through the lyrics. The old Death Vomit lyrics talked about his own experiences of life.

KJ: Were people shocked by his death?

Oki: Everyone was shocked when he died. No-one imagined he was going to be dead. He was using drugs but he looked healthy. He always made jokes every day. When we hung around every day and he was there the situation was always good with Agung. There used to be a line between punk and metal, we didn’t know each other well. Because of Agung the punk and metal communities can work together. He was a friend of the metal community and a friend of the punk community.

KJ: So he would have liked my jacket with metal and punk patches on it [laughs]?

Oki: Yes! People from all the genres of music came to the funeral, metal people, punk people, and reggae people. Everyone loved him. Even Man, he is death-metal from Bandung, but he was the closest friend to Agung. Man comes to Agung’s grave when Jasad plays Yogya.

Oki @ Bon Scott statue, Fremantle,

KJ: How do you feel to take his place?

Oki: I never thought about it before [laughs] but maybe I will do my best in the band because the band belongs to Agung too. If I just have fun [in the band] it looks like I have a sin, you know what I mean? We finished high school and I knew he did not want to go to college or working. He wanted to do something totally death-metal. When we launched The Prophecy, we played the song “Gelap” without vocals and we imagined Agung was singing. There was a mic in front of us and we were pretending Agung was there. Agung used to call me a “parasite” because I switched from one band to the next. I remember, when I joined Death Vomit, Agung said words like that so I made a commitment to myself that I don’t want to change bands again.

KJ: Was there any anti-drugs campaign after Agung’s death?

Oki: Maybe not 100% but there was a small campaign. When Agung died Death Vomit made a small sticker. I forget the words but the point was Death Vomit is against drugs. It’s like on the old metal CDs where there was a warning that alcohol and drugs can harm your life. It’s almost like that but we made a sticker. The point was: “Drugs are a danger to your life”.

Corna Irawan (band manager of Death Vomit): The sticker is: “Stop the Madness”.

Oki: “...Drugs are a danger for your life!”

Oki: I see the strong character of Agung in death-metal because of his lifestyle; he had the strong character of a death-metal person.

KJ: Thanks very much for sharing so many things with me mate. I think the fans will really like to hear all these things you tell me. Of course this interview will go into my book.

Oki: No worries, we should finish off our burgers now before we go to Avila recording studio tonight to meet the bands!

Man Jasad with American researcher @ Common Room

Man (JASAD) remembers Agung:

Interview by Kieran James at “The Common Room”, Bandung, 3am, 11 October 2011:

Kieran James: Man, if you have a few minutes can you tell me some more about Agung of Death Vomit?

Man (JASAD): Many of my friends in Yogyakarta passed away from drugs, heroin. When I see Death Vomit perform [today] I see the former singer Agung. I’m luckier than him because I still survive now. I lived in a normal family with mother and father, not like Agung. Agung, from when he was born until he passed away, he never met his parents. I told him not to use drugs but he used more and more, he died very young, aged 22...

KJ: The same age as Sid Vicious...

Man: A lot of good friends of mine in the past were victims of heroin and drugs so I dedicate part of my life to helping drug users and people with AIDS.  If I meet the baby with HIV they are [just] unlucky, born to a mother with HIV.

KJ note: Our conversation on this topic ended here. It was a very busy night at "The Common Room" in Bandung and Man had other people to talk to.

DEATH VOMIT band 1997 (JOGJAKARTA CORPSEGRINDER community)

One night in Jogja. Left to Right: Kieran James (Busuk Webzine), Oki Haribowo (bassist Death Vomit), Ms Nilu (Jogjanews.com), Unknown, Corna Irawan (DEVO manager), 11 Oct 2011

AGUNG REST IN PEACE